“I must have done five internships in total before getting hired by my company now. I sent dozens of cover letters and resumes to lots of different hiring managers, telling them, ‘Hey, I’m a foreigner and I can only speak conversational Japanese. But I’m willing to work for free for up to six months.’ MyContinue reading
“I used to get called ‘dark’ or ‘dirty’ and it would bother me a lot. It made me shut myself inside the house, away from people. You see, my father’s Japanese but my mother is Malaysian, so I look this way. Growing up, sometimes random people would say, ‘She’s a foreigner!’ even though I canContinue reading
“What’s it like to be a new dad? It’s like a whirlwind. It just hits you out of nowhere. I’m really happy and excited. Every little thing she does makes us go, ‘Whoa, that’s something new!’ She’s already six months now, and it’s nice to watch her grow and be able to do all theseContinue reading
“When I was young, I spent a lot of time traveling alone and I loved it. Now that I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown tired of it. From a Western perspective, you hear people say, ‘Traveling alone is good. You discover yourself.’ I totally agree. But it also gets boring and lonely. I realized this whenContinue reading
“I think my Japanese friends like hanging out with me because they feel free to be who they are when they’re around me. In a way, I know more about them than their friends do. I feel like people don’t normally open up or share their opinion or problems here. But for some reason, theyContinue reading
“I think everyone goes through some kind of identity crisis. I’m from Taiwan and when I was 16, I went to the States, where I lived with a white host family. I went to a private school that was predominantly white, although there were also a couple of Asians and some black people. I rememberContinue reading
“Japan recently acknowledged the work that I’ve done integrating foreign actors with the entertainment industry by writing a book on acting in Japan and bringing people across the board together. The biggest problem here isn’t someone’s ability to act, it’s their ability to behave. The small cultural things, like what questions to ask or notContinue reading
“I’ve been vegan since I came to Japan after college. But I’ve been vegetarian for eight years before that. I slowly eased into it by cutting out red meat, then chicken, seafood, and eventually all meat. Although I was still having dairy products and eggs so I was still strictly vegetarian. Then I decided toContinue reading
“There are 55 minority groups in China, and I belong to one of them. I’m Uyghur. I’m from Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, which is in Northwestern China. I came to Japan right after the 2011 earthquake. Before that, I was working at a youth hostel when I thought of studying overseas. I wanted toContinue reading
“I work for the Embassy of Botswana in Japan. I came here in 2017. Life here is good. No complaints. The food is great, I eat everything. Only problem is I don’t speak much Japanese and it’s hard to make friends. Irasshaimase is all I know. Good thing I have fellow African friends in Tokyo.Continue reading
“I was born and raised in Luxembourg. It’s a tiny country in Europe, between Belgium, France, and Germany. But my mother’s Japanese so after graduating from university, I decided to move here and work. My first job was at a German car company. I worked in HR as an intern, interviewing other interns. Then IContinue reading
“I will always be a minority in every country I go to. I’m Punjabi but I was born and raised in Birmingham, England. My parents are both from East Africa, grandparents all from India. If I go to India, I’m a Brit. In the UK, I’m British Indian or British Asian. In Japan, I’m aContinue reading
